Lovin’ Lately

Everyone loves a good drugstore beauty find, am I right?

If there’s one thing I have in common with ANY of the Harry Potter characters, it’s professor Snape, and it’s his ever oily hair. I think when reading the books, that was the single detail that REALLY got stuck in my head (no pun intended) for that particular reason. Oh, and did I mention that I used to color my hair black for about 4 years or so? Any who, the point is, I have extremely oily hair. As in, I’ll wash it tonight, and it’l look greasy by noon, tomorrow. Sometimes I read other beauty blogs where girls say they wash their hair once a week. Yeeahhh… not me.

Until last month that is. I ran out of my favorite shampoo and reached for something I had sitting around for ages- Not Your Mother’s Clean Freak Dry Shampoo and OMG- it was a game-changer for me. I don’t remember when I bought it or why I didn’t use but I’m in love. I actually challenged myself not to wash my hair for a week and… I lasted 5 days which for is HUGE for me. I can’t stand it when my hair doesn’t look fresh and love this dry shampoo – it absorbs ALL the oil (some of them actually make my hair look even more greasy) and it doesn’t leave any excess residue on my hair. It’s scent-free so it’s a bit unusual for a dry shampoo but I love it. Doesn’t really do much in terms of texture (that’s what I use this baby for) but it’s probably THE best dry-shampoo Iv’e used. I don’t know how this works with normal or dry hair, but it’s amazing for extremely oily scalp. Best part? It’s only about 6 bucks!

Funny story: when I first moved to the States, I barely spoke English and went on vacation down the shore with my neighbors. I had really REALLY long hair at the time. Someone pushed me in the pool, and even though I nearly drowned, all I was concerned about was my hair so I proceeded to scream “noooo my hairs are wet, my hairs are wet!!!” – something I’m still made fun of on occasion, 12 years later.

I recently raved about the two Derma E products on my Instagram: The Purifying Youth Serum* and the Firming DMAE Eye Cream*. First word that comes to mind with these two: gentle. I’ve tried closed to 20 different eye creams and a lot of them have one thing in common: they burn and irritate that delicate, thin skin. This eye cream is different. It’s very gentle, it moisturizes nicely and isn’t too greasy so once it’s nicely absorbed, it works fine under concealer. The Purifying Youth Serum is a product I’ve loved for very long time time now. It really helps my skin look a bit more radiant and brings that instant relief to dry and irritated skin. The only complaint is that the bottle is tiny- 30ml/1 fl oz for $30.00. Derma E products are pretty amazing though, so they’re worth their price, they’re natural and 100% vegan.

The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Surreal Light palette- I just had to mention it in this post as well, as it’s one of my favorite recent purchases. Totally worth the splurge, in my opinion, the products in this palette (and the packing itself) are stunning.

Three lip products I’ve being loving: all-time favorite Chanel Rouge Coco Baume– single lip care product I wouldn’t be able to live without. Next, is the Je Ne Sais Quoi* lip balm from IT Cosmetics that nourishes and leaves a nice, pink tint, and the Kaplan MD LIP 20 Mask + Lip Balm* combo- the mask really does plump the lips slightly and it’s a perfect combo with the lip balm.

Something else I mentioned on my Instagram are these Cuvée* hair products. I was sent these three travel-sized conditioner, shampoo and styling balm. Guys, using these is like soaking your hair in champagne. They smell so wonderful and leave my hair feeling so soft and smooth. I’m actually not usually picky when it comes to shampoo + conditioner. After trying everything from salon brands, to anything I could find at Sephora, I just stick to drugstore brands (Suave is my favorite but I’ll never use TIGI BedHead again- almost left me bold). My hair is super healthy (gets greasy quickly, but very healthy) so I don’t splurge on haircare much, but these Cuvée* products make my hair feeling extra special.

What have you been lovin’ lately?

*PR Samples/Gifted Items